Sony to Close Most Retail Stores by Year's End

Sony has announced that they will be closing 20 of their 31 retail stores, leaving 2 of them open across the country. Sony has been having a pretty hard time financially and as a result they have been looking for ways to cut costs in order to return to better profitability. I have had many experiences with Sony’s retail stores and many of them are fairly well stocked with the latest Sony technology, however, some of their stores completely failed to address consumers’ needs. I have also been in one of their newer stores, like the one in San Diego’s University Town Center mall, the same mall in San Diego that has a Tesla store. So, clearly, Sony wants to leave themselves in high-end malls based on the locations that they are planning on leaving.

Sony’s new strategy and heavier mobile focus simply doesn’t require them to have a strong retail presence, especially if they are going to be trying to sell smartphones and tablets in high volumes through carriers. Sony’s newest stores appear to focus very heavily on the company’s strong suits, which are their 4K technologies, cameras and mobile devices and PlayStation 4. Although, I must say that they must try harder to have all of the latest smartphones and tablets, neither of which take up much space but give them a great opportunity to sell.

They have also provided a list of the stores that they are closing, which we have included below:

Tysons, VA

University Village, WA

Galleria Dallas, TX

Forum Shops, NV

Pentagon, VA

Boca Raton, FL

Menlo Park, NJ

Las Americas, CA

Camarillo, CA

Aurora, IL

Gilroy, CA

Wrentham, MA

Pleasant Prairie, WI

San Marcos, TX

Cherry Creek, CO

Dolphin, FL

Century City, CA

Valley Fair, CA

Comcast, PA

Central Valley, N.Y. (Woodbury Common Outlets)

We will see if these retail closings will help Sony’s bottom line, even though I think Sony’s biggest problem right now is perception more than anything. And that can only be changed through good marketing supporting their already pretty good products. We will see if their newest products launched here at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona will make any changes in their profitability.